A Shadow From The Past
by Brahms
Summary: This is a story dealing with Shadow as a young boy, and the events leading up to his joining with the returners. Please review my story, i stopped writing my last one due to so few reviews. *Note, Violence plays a factor in almost every chapter, if you
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The young boy rolled over on his bed, very groggy from being late the night before.He stood up and went over to the window.The boy appears to be 11-13 years old, rather tall for his age.He looks at the window, the shade was pulled down.Not having a clock in his room he didn't know what time it was.He rolled up the shade.It was sunrise.

"Goddamn it!"They young boy didn't realize how loud he said that, because he heard his mother come up the stairs.

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up!I thought I would have to come in here with a marching band to wake you up Adam, now get dressed.You don't want to be late for school do you?"Upon hear the last few words his mother said, Adam bolted under his bed.

"I'm not going to school, I hate school.Nobody likes me there, they tease me."Adam said quietly, but firmly enough so his mother heard him.

"Listen Adam, I've told you already.Jus"

"No, you listen!" Adam had come out from under his bed and was filled with rage as he interrupted his mother."I'm tired of going to school, I don't learn anything, all the kids make and the teacher hates me!Why can't yo" Adam's mother had cut him off just like he had done to her, except she used physical force.She slapped him so hard across the face that he fell over.His mother gave him a cold, callous look and left the room.Adam rose to his feet slowly with a blank expression on his, one so terrifying that if his mother were still in the room, she would have been scared for her life.Adam slowly and methodically changed his clothes and walked out of the house, without saying goodbye or eating breakfast.The streets of South Figaro were easy to navigate through as he could make it school in under 5 minutes.He arrived in the classroom and sat down.The other kids avoided him and pointed and laughed.

"All right class, sit down."The teacher said."I trust all of you did your homework, so who would like to come up to the board and answer questions one through five?"The teacher looked through the room, she saw several students with their hands up, and then noticed Adam, looking at his desk."Adam how about you answer the questions?"

"No."Adam replied bluntly

"Why Not?"She asked

"Because I didn't do it, and I don't care about school.So how about you stop cramming this garbage down my throat and do us both a favor?"The teacher walked over to her desk and grabbed a paddle out of the top drawer.

"Get over here now!"

"Why not?"Adam said in a sarcastic tone.He walked over to the desk and bent over.The teacher seemed to be releasing a lot of anger in bringing the paddle down.When she was done, Adam looked up to the class.They were all pointing and laughing at him.Adam felt a rage grow inside him, he tried to fight it, but he couldn't deny it.He looked at the teacher's desk and saw a small blade for sharpening pencils.He picked it up, smiled and ran at his classmates.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

*Knock, Knock, Knock*

Adam's mother looked up in disbelief."It's been years since someone came to the house while Adam was in school, who the heck could this be?"She slowly walked to the door, thinking who it could possibly be."What if it's a robber?What if it's a tax collector?"she began thinking to herself.With every step closer to the door she grew more and more nervous.Her hand was inches from the knob.Her hand slowly and softly grabbed it.Her arm was shaking uncontrollably as she began to turn the knob.She could feel the sweat running down her back as the door slowly began to open.

"Ms. Redington?"The female voice asked.She looked up slowly and her fears were calmed.

"Mayor Tina? What are you doing here?"She could not quite believe that the mayor was here.She rarely leaves the office and only makes public appearances at important events.

"I take it this is your son?"A guard steps into plain view holding Adam with his hands bound behind him.

"What are you doing with my son?"Adam's mother seemed in disbelief.

"Your son. . . grabbed a knife off of his teachers desk, and stabbed a student 4 times in the chest.Seeing as your son has never had any problem like this, we are willing to give him a sentence of 2 years home confinement.With one condition."

"What is it?"

"Adam has to go to the clinic and apologize to the boy."

"I want to go Mom."She looked at her son almost in a daze."I feel bad for what I did, I want to apologize."

"That's the spirit."Said the Mayor."You know, I might just reduce your sentence to 18 months.Johnson."The guard stood at attention."Accompany Adam to the clinic."The guard walked off, still holding Adam.The two entered the clinic.Johnson untied the ropes holding Adam's hands together, and showed him where the room was.Johnson remained outside.

"You think I'm supposed to come in here and apologize don't you?"The boy was unable to speak.He is in a combination of shock and fear."What am I going to apologize for?Extracting a small measure of revenge for the hell you put me through!You made my life a living hell.You know what, I am going to apologize.I apologize for not finishing the job!"With that Adam jumped onto the bed in the mount position and began choking him.At first his hands were unable to meet each other, but after a few seconds, he had pressed his neck in so hard, that Adam was able to lock his hands.Adam smiled as he felt the life drain out of him.As he finished, he knew he couldn't leave.He looked at the door to the hallway.A life of confinement and solitude.He looked at the window.A life of freedom.Adam didn't need to think twice as he jumped through the window and into South Figaro forest.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Adam awoke to the sound of footsteps in the forest."South Figaro soldiers" he said to himself.Adam had been running for several hours and was at the point of exhaustion and had decided to take a rest, but he was in more danger now than he was before.In the forest, the soldiers could kill him and say that he got away.Trying to find a single person in the South Figaro forest was almost like looking for a needle in a haystack, it just so happened that the soldiers were very close to the needle.Adam knew that running would do no good, but he couldn't fight them.He had one option, to hide.He ran to the nearest climbable tree and got about 15 feet off the ground when they came in sight.He became more still than a statue.

"His footprints lead here."Said one of the soldiers

"Shit!"Adam said to himself."They've been following me, I won't be able to get away."He was looking around for something that could help him when he saw a vine.A morbid thought had taken over his mind, just like the one when he saw the blade on his teacher's desk.He looked at a loose branch.He started twisting it slowly, hopefully trying to get it off without alerting the guards.The branch started loosening, and then started to separate.However it separated more than Adam had wanted it to, because it fell off too fast and fell to the ground.The guard looked up and saw him.

"There he is, shoot to kill!"Both guards unloaded the bullets in their rifles.Adam tried his best to stay behind the tree and avoid their shots.Soon enough they were empty and started reloading.Adam looked at the vine again and started to run, and in a jump that would make Tarzan envious, he grabbed it and swung to the next tree while holding on to the vine.The guards had reloaded but weren't shooting, instead they started climbing the tree.

"Goddamn it!"Adam looked at the guards."I'm only gonna have one chance."Adam found his hands working the vine.Without even fully realizing it, the vine was wrapped into a noose."Hold on, I'm gonna come down."Adam said.

"Okay, we won't shoot, just give us a minute so we can get down."One of the guards said.This gave Adam the window of opportunity he was looking for.He waited until one of the guard's head was in plain view, he saw his chance and took it.Adam dived off the tree, noose in hand and got it around one of the guards neck and yanked him off the tree.The vine didn't go all the way to the ground and the guard was left to hang and die.Adam saw the other guard jump down, but the dead guard's gun had fallen.Adam rolled forward, picked it up and the two were holding each other at gunpoint.

"Put down the gun Adam."The guard said.

"I'm not Adam."

"What?"*Bam* Adam used that distraction to pull the trigger and shoot the guard right through his face.With nothing left to do, Adam ran north in hopes of making it to the end of the forest before dawn, which he did.Adam was free.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

(A/N.It has been 5 years since Adam has run away from South Figaro.He is currently working in a small port town, doing assorted things to make money.He has also undergone a change of name, to further distance himself from his previous life.)

"Hey Clyde, we've got another shipment of fish coming in today.The boys were sayin' this is one of the best years for fishing that they've ever seen, so I'm gonna have to ask ya to stay later today.Okay?"Said the man who was supervising Clyde, as well as other men as they unload fish from the cargo hold of a ship.

"What about the other men?Why just me?"

"Are you in or not?"

"You know me Mr. Wallace, as long as you have the money."

"I'm counting on it Clyde."Said Mr. Wallace as he walked away.

"Hey guys."Asked Clyde."Do any of you guys know what's up with Mr. Wallace?"

"Listen Clyde."Said Mark, one of the workers that Clyde knows well."I've been working for this guy, jeez, for over 10 years.Never once has he seemed entirely rational to me.I think the same can be said for everyone here."Everyone smiled, chuckled a bit and nodded their heads."Don't let it get to you.Hey, the hold is empty.We're done."

"I thought it would take us much longer than this."Said Clyde.

"Nah, not this year.Fishing has been horrible for the past 4 months or so."Replied Mark.

"But, Mr. Wallace said tha. . "

"Hey I've got an idea!Let's Get Drunk!"Yelled out one of the workers, interrupting Clyde.Clyde was unable to finish as the workers ran out.Clyde decided to follow, as he knew that the next ship didn't arrive for a few hours.

~*~*~

"Hey Clyde!"Said Mark who was already drunk after 15 minutes."Me and the boys were talkin'.What's the worst thing _you've_ ever done?"As Mark pointed to him, he fell of his stool."I hate floors!Why do they have to hurt so much?"Mark go on his knees and started punching the floor with all he could muster.

"The worst thing I have ever done.Lemme think."Clyde was slightly buzzed, not even enough to affect his speech."There was this one time, these guys tried to arrest *me***.**So, I hung one of them from a tree.Took his gun and shot the other guy right through his face."Clyde put down his mug and looked over.All the workers were staring blankly at him.*Oh shit, what did I just say!Oh Damn!Fuck!Fuck! Shit Fuck!*All of a sudden, they all started laughing uncontrollably.

"Damn you Clyde.You made me loose the beer that was in my mouth!"Said one of the guys.

"Yeah Clyde, how'd you come up with that so fast?"Asked Mark.

"Must be the liquor talking'."Said Clyde.

"To Liquor!"Someone yelled as he raised his glass.Clyde raised his glass, then he put it down.

"Shit, I'm buzzed.I'd better go walk it off.I'll see you guys later.Don't get too drunk."All the guys were yelling out drunken goodbyes as Clyde took his coat of the rack, and left the bar.The wind was brisk and it was quite chilly as dusk set in, so Clyde zipped up his coat.He almost decided to go home, but instead started to walk to the port to wait for the shipment to arrive.About 2/3 of his way to the port he saw some people fighting.As he ran closer he saw they weren't fighting, but it was 2 men trying to rape a woman."Hey!"Clyde yelled out.The two men paid no attention to him.Clyde then ran as fast as he could and tackled one of them down, unloading with everything he could get out of his two fists.Clyde then looked behind and saw the other man just bringing a knife towards his face.Clyde grabbed his arm, rolled backwards into a standing position and then brought the knife into the man's own chest.But Clyde noticed something when the knife came out of the body, and when there was no blood.It was a toy knife that goes into the handle.

"Congratulations Clyde, you acted just as I thought you would."Clyde heard the voice of Mr. Wallace, but he couldn't identify where it was coming from."Hey Clyde, I'm over here."Clyde looked around and saw a hand at the edge of the port.He ran over and saw Mr. Wallace in a 2 person motorboat."I know about your past Clyde, you proved it to me over there.You have the killers instinct, and I need you."Clyde seemed to have no objections as he jumped into the boat and the two sped off.

~*~*~

Clyde and Mr. Wallace have been on the boat for several hours, and it is the middle of the night.

"So, that's what you want me to do?Enter that building and kill Geston?"Said Clyde.

"It's Ghestal, and take this seriously, the man is the emperor of the Magi-Tek Empire for godsake."

"Why do you want _me_ to kill _him_, exactly?"Asked Clyde.

"It's a long reason, but I'll try to make it short.4 months ago my brother and his fiancé took a ride out on my pleasure boat, they were celebrating their engagement. They said they'd be back in an hour, but it had been over 2 hours and I began to worry.I went out to look for them.I came across the boat that I lent them, it was in shards, and I saw a boat loaded with Magi-Tek armor leaving the scene.My brother was killed, and his fiancé wasn't found.Half of her body was washed up on shore 4 days later."

"So, revenge is the name of the game."Said Clyde.

"Exactly" said Mr. Wallace, who was picking something up from behind him."I want you to wear this, it should help keep you concealed better than what you're wearing now."He threw something over at Clyde.Clyde picked it up to see that it is a back ninja suit, which conceals the body from head to toe.The boat made it's way to the shore, and Clyde got out, and started towards the Empire.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Clyde found himself outside the Empire with no way of getting in.There were no guards on the outside because it is almost impossible to enter.

"How come the front door never works" Clyde said to himself under his breath."I'd better canvas the sides, maybe there's some sort of alternate entrance."Very slowly, Clyde made his way around the building, checking very carefully for traps or alarms.As he was half way through with the back he noticed something, as small panel was sticking out.Clyde took out his dagger and slowly began to work on it.After about 10 minutes it fell off.Clyde looked inside.At first it just appeared to be nothing, but when he turned his head, he saw that it was some sort of shaft that led straight up."That looks about 40 feet straight up, but I guess I have no other option."Clyde entered the shaft and kicked his feet directly into the sides, using the soles of his boots to keep himself from slipping, he slowly moved them up one at a time.It took him nearly 20 minutes to reach the top.After slowly removing the panel to the inside, his view was obstructed by something.Something big.Not knowing what it was, Clyde jumped out and found himself behind a magi-tek armor robot.

"Did you hear something?"

Clyde wasn't sure where the voice was from, so he jumped onto the leg of the robot and climbed up.He was half way up the back when he saw where the voice came from.Two people looked down from the top of the robot and saw him.Clyde climbed up as fast as possible and pulled out his dagger.The two men didn't have proper weapons, but one had a welding torch and the other had a large wrench.Clyde kicked the one with the wrench in the neck and knocked him over, then went after the man with the torch.He threw his dagger and got it right through his wrist, he dropped the torch and Clyde walked over, pulled the dagger out of his wrist and put it through his neck.He picked up the torch and walked over to the guy that he kicked in the neck.He opened his mouth, put the torch right in front of it and put it on full blast.

After this Clyde looked around, he had a good view of the area around him.There was no one else in this room.Clyde climbed down slowly and made his was towards the door.He slowly opened it and looked left.No one.He looked right, two guards with there backs turned.He started to go left very slowly.After he rounded a corner, he saw an elevator."There's no fuckin' staircase in here.If there is, it's by the damn guards.Shit, I gotta take the elevator."Clyde pressed the button and waited.After he went in, he saw there were 13 floors.He pressed the button for 13.He stepped in and waited."When I get out, just keep running" Clyde said to himself.He grabbed his dagger but it fell to the floor.He looked at his hand which was shaking uncontrollably with fear.He bent over to pick it up, and the elevator stopped on the 7th floor."Oh shit" said Clyde under his breath.A woman casually looked at him and walked in.

"You must be in that performance tomorrow, huh?"

"Yeah, that's it"

"Well, thanks for getting me out of work.God this place is so dull."

"Tell me about it."The elevator stopped on floor 10.

"Well, good luck, this where I get off."

"Have a good day."Clyde said.As soon as the doors closed he doubled over and let out a big sigh of relief."Goddamn that was too fuckin' close."Clyde stood up as the elevator began to slow for floor 13."Get ready Clyde."As soon as the doors opened he ran out with his dagger screaming.Then he stopped and looked.There was no one.It was just a long, empty hallway with two large double doors at the end.Clyde walked up to the doors and flung them open.He walked into the room and saw a man sitting in a chair at the end of the room."Ghestal!"

"Yes, I am he.How may help you?"He said with a rather sinister smile.

"My name is Clyde, and I am your executioner."Ghestal stood up and looked at him.

"Try" he said.Clyde took out his dagger and ran full charge.He was two feet away from having his dagger pierce his face when he suddenly froze."Have you ever heard of the lost art of Magic Clyde?It is supposedly non-existent in this world, but I have my methods.This type of particular Magic is called Stop.It locks all the joints of the targets body."Clyde was doing his best to struggle or do something to get out of it, but he couldn't move at all."It was really quite impressive how you made it here.Climbing up the shaft without a rope.Killing two of my engineers.Sneaking past the two guards to get to the elevator.Are you at all surprised that I know what you've been doing?Well Clyde" Ghestal starts circling around him "I've had my eye on you for awhile.We are very similar you and me, more than you know."Stop fades away on Clyde's head, but remains on the rest of his body.

"What do you mean by that?"Clyde snapped back.

"I could tell you, but that ruin the fun."

"Does it look like I'm having fun?!?!"

"Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough, just ask an old friend of mine, you know him."

"What are you talking about?"

"When you get back to your crap town, talk to Giles Wallace."

"What does Mr. Wallace have in common with you?"

"You wanna know something, Mr. Wallace has been lying to you.His real name is Giles Redington."Clyde's face turns to a look of confusion."I'm going to cast a spell called warp, you'll be outside in a few seconds.I suggest you have a nice talk with ol' Giles."At the end of the sentace, Clyde disappeared. 

"Would you like him killed next time he comes?"Said a guard who came in through a hidden door.

"No.Infact, next time open the door for him.He'll be a valuable member of the Empire."

Clyde walked away from the Empire and jumped into the boat.Mr. Wallace looked at the dagger which had blood on it and smiled approvingly.


End file.
